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Monday, June 11, 2012

With XTERRA and 3D now successfully completed, its time for a bit of downtime. As much of a mental break as a physical one; which means its playtime. The moto's are back in action and great fun was had yesterday at the Rotorua MX club fun day. Awesome group of current and ex national level MTB'ers pretty much filled up the novice class. Was good times. Nic is getting better and better (which obviously means faster). Nemo (her SX85) is now the "flying fish" as she started jumping one of the bigger tabletops most of the boys are yet to clear. Can't wait to see how that form transfers to the MTB.

The video below from Jeff McDowells point of view shows a wee bit of the race action from Novice (or translated... full of XC mountaibikers....) class. My bike is currently out of action, but big thanks to Paul Bishop for letting me jump on his bike for the last race of the day. I am not a very good spectator. Take note at about 1:20 on the vid (and slow mo's at the end), where I proceed to demonstrate why jumping straight into a race situation on an unfamiliar bike without practice laps and immediately trying to pin it is perhaps not the smartest move. I did save it. Just. Roll on next weekend.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Awesome race over the weekend as Nic pushed the legend that is Elina Ussher to dig incredibly deep to defend her title at the Australasian Multisport Champs (the awesome "Expand-a-sign 3D Rotorua" event). 2nd place for Nic in what was fiercely contested battle.

The mixture of relief/pleasure/exhaustion showing on Nic's face as she crossed the line kind of says it all. She'd taken the race to Elina, dug very deep, and forced her to break her own race record by 8min to secure a narrow win. Nic's race stragety was developed around a solid kayak, smashing the MTB, and trying to hold strong on the run. She executed well, overcoming a 5min deficeit out of the boat to lead onto the run. Her MTB leg wasn't without incident, but she still managed to build a 1min lead onto the run.

The only nagging doubt was how the run endurance would be. Struggling to overcome her torn calf from XTERRA there was only a handful of short easy runs in "training"in the last 6 weeks. Pushing hard, she still held 40sec 1/2 way through what is a brutal trail run. However Elina's class and endurance showed through, sneaking the win with a strong finish. Supurb efforts from both (and Austalalian Deanna Blegg in 3rd) to put on such an exciting race.

I was on the startline too, but my severe lack of paddling experience/skill/strength meant I was never a contender. Huge thanks to Bevan Spratt for the lend of his boat, goiving me confidence I could at least stay upright. Pre-race my goal was at least top 10, and if I had a stellar Bike/Run day top 5. Out of the boat I had given up 13min to the front, but between 10-12 to those that were top 5 contenders. I was having a great MTB leg, but had to back off a touch in the last 20min as I was very close to cracking myself (think the paddling has a much more serious effect on bike/run than swimming does!). Onto the run I was 8th and 7min out of the top 5. I dug deep, and slashed lots of time, but couldn't get there. 4th fastest run, good enough for 8th overall, 2min off the podium. Pretty happy with that.

Huge thanks to everyone supporting us out there on the course and throughout the forest. Great to have our parents there (and my sister) and heaps of local support. Really appreciated so thank you to all. Fun evening afterwards, then yesterday spent at the motorcross track to finish the weekend. Not sure that counts as physical recovery (feeling very 2nd hand today), but certainly great fun!

Friday, June 1, 2012

Special offer for all our friends and supporters. When we had our Black Dirt clothing designed, we made sure there was a bit of extra gear ordered and produced so that we could make it available to those that wanted some. Therefore its about time we offered it to everyone?!

All the gear is 2XU custom, and is the "Elite" level stuff. So very high quality and comfort. Limited stock in everything, so if keen flick us an e-mail to check what we have. Both the cycling tops, and bib shorts are in both mens and womens specific fit. The Tri gear is Men's cut, and the Vest's Unisex.

$100 for tri items, vests, or shirts. The Bibs are $170. e-mail cabinracing@gmail.com